For the second time this year, and for the fourth year in a row, Colorado’s liquor stores repelled another attempt to allow convenience stores to sell full-strength beer.

The victory came as Sen. Betty Boyd, D-Lakewood, today killed her own bill to allow convenience stores to sell full-strength beer. Boyd said she originally had the necessary 18 votes in the Senate to pass Senate Bill 194, but said “those votes have eroded.”

Boyd asked that the bill be laid over until May 12, the day after session ends, effectively killing it on the Senate floor.

Sen. Lois Tochtrop, D-Thornton, an opponent of the bill, said later it was a waste of time to keep bringing up the issue every year.

“Groundhog Day. That’s the perfect movie” to describe the bill, Tochtrop said. “I just find it ludicrous that they continue to bring it forward when there is no political will.”

Under Colorado law, only liquor stores and restaurants may sell full-strength beer. Convenience stores and grocery stores may only sell low-alcohol beer, less than 4 percent alcohol by volume or 3.2 percent by weight.

After a 2008 law that allowed liquor stores to sell beer on Sundays, convenience stores complained their Sunday beer sales had been cut into. They tried even harder to get a law passed allowing them full-strength beer sales.

This was the first year any such bills had ever made it out of committee. First up was House Bill 1284, sponsored by Rep. Larry Liston, R-Colorado Springs, which would have allowed convenience stores and grocery stores to sell full-strength beer.

That bill cleared a House committee but died on the House floor last week amid arguments about hurting family-owned liquor stores. Under Colorado law, a licensee can own only one liquor store, and many are mom-and-pop operations.

Boyd’s bill was aimed only at convenience stores, and it was thought this approach might win more votes with grocery stores cut out of the deal. But the death of her legislation sealed the fate of the issue this year.

Liquor stores hailed the back-to-back victories as evidence that it was time for the issue to die.

“After four years of overwhelming opposition to out-of-state interests’ attempts to hurt Colorado small businesses, it’s time to put this issue out of its misery,” said Jeanne McEvoy, president of the Colorado Licensed Beverage Association. “Coloradans have now made it clear: we support small businesses.

“These bills will kill jobs, send money out of Colorado and allow minors to sell alcohol at convenience stores. It’s time for convenience stores and grocery stores to get the message and leave local Colorado businesses alone.”

Convenience stores, meanwhile, said it’s still not over.

“It is disappointing that the legislature has once again chosen to ignore the consumer in this debate,” said Mark Larson, executive director of the Colorado-Wyoming Petroleum Marketers Association, which represents convenience stores.

“Liquor stores and their ignorant mantra about only out-of-state entities being involved in the convenience store industry unfortunately carried the day. But we’ll be back. The consumers deserve options. Liquor stores are a monopoly.

“And, hopefully, there will be an initiative to decide this once and for all.”

In a letter to U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder, one of the Leftist Czar in the Justice Department, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) has labeled Utah’s guest worker amnesty as “illegal” and expressed consternation at Attorney General Holder’s obvious refusal to enforce the law in Utah when he has been so quick to counter Arizona’s interior enforcement laws. This shows the Liberal influence pushing for some form–any form of amnesty, that the TEA PARTY will fight as the costs are astronomical, and it overruling the laws of of our country. This is a contradiction to Janet Napolitano stating that the Border fence is more secure than ever before.

On Fox News and on C-Span TV broadcasts, has illustrated the mess our immigration laws are? Not because they are poorly organized, but because the laws are not enforced. If the TEA PARTY has any effect on this major problem, the will be no Comprehensive Immigration Reform (AMNESTY): killing Sanctuary State policies, the Dream Act Amnesty; Chain migration (Amnesty) or anything else that stinks of Amnesty for lawbreakers. That’s why we have millions of illegal aliens pouring into this country, because at some vfuture time, they expect–MASS AMNESTY. It never worked in 1986, so it certainly will not work now? Not because of bad leadership at the borders, but owing to the fact that hundreds of miles in this dangerous territory, the US Border Patrol clashes with stupid, environmental laws imposed by the Bureau of Land Management , Game and Fisheries and Forest, Parks and Public lands.

Rancher Jim Chilton put this lie to rest, by stating to a federal committee, that his 50 miles of border, of which he owns is wide open to the drug traffickers and illegal people smugglers. Jim Chilton added where there is a fence, it is no different to what you see rusting along any highway. In Chilton testimony he explained to the mix of party members, that the people live in fear along the border. If you leave your home it’s likely to get broken into. His own ranch had been burglarized twice and he cannot go outside, unless he is fully armed. So because of land managed laws, the US border Patrol must ask for permission to enter certain areas of land, because of such things as the endangered species Act. While at the same time the criminal surveillance persons have the most expensive binoculars and other equipment to watch the movement of the border patrol. The Border agents are essentially not patrolling along the border fence, where they are needed.

Is there some ominous connection between the drug cartels and why the–REAL–fences, between our southern border and our National security? Does it seem strange to anybody else that after the 2006 Secure Fence Act was enacted, almost within a month funding for the bill was cut drastically and even today not even a single fencing has been completed? If the first steel enforced fence had been constructed, with a second fence, some thousand feet apart, maybe the drug traffickers would have not easy access to the children of America. With “drag roads” as they are called, ( parallel patrol tracks between the fences) between the 15 foot chain link fence, adorned with concertina razor wire, manned by permanent National Guard watchtowers within visible sight of each other. One Republican has sponsored a third fence scenario, which would be even a greater deterrent to the drug and illegal alien invasion.

THE LEFTIST MEDIA WILL NOT DIVULGE THE TRUTH ABOUT THE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION QUAGMIRE. NOR DID THEY PUBLICIZE THE RANTS, UGLY SLURS AND RACIAL EPITHETS SCREAMED AT THE LAST TEA PARTY RALLY. THEY ARE SHOOTING FOR MILLIONS OF MORE VOTES; EVEN IF THEY ARE ILLEGALLY VOTING IN ELECTIONS? THE CONFERENCE HELD BY OBAMA IS TO PUSH FOR ANOTHER IMMIGRATION REFORM TRAVESTY. NEW YORK MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG JOINED ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER WHO I SUSPECT ARE PART OF THE BUSINESS ORGANIZATION, WHO ARE THERE TO STOP ANY INTERRUPTION OF CHEAP LABOR ENTERING AMERICA.

States that ignore immigration laws, such as Sanctuary California, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, will have endure floods of economic new Arrivals that politicians will force their taxpayers to financially support. Georgia and a few more concerned States will not bare the major money burden of fewer welfare aliens searching for another location to pilfer of public services.

America is in a sorry way under numerous administrations, that have built massive governments agencies and many should be closed down. We are overextended in credit and we must bail ourselves out, by cutting costs to thousands of government agencies. With a rising 14 Trillion dollar deficit, that it’s not going away and all Americans must be prepared to draw in the financial belts. The Obama government must draw out the criminals that are stealing from Medicare and Medicaid. Huge criminal organizations are stealing from taxpayers, with dubious doctors and expensive tests. No matter the fiscal Consequences we must not go above the US debt system, by the leftist democrats using fear. Illegal immigration is not a small issue, as it now has grown out of all proportions and costing us billions every year.

It’s no good expecting the Democrats or the Republicans to dig us out of this mess, as only the TEA PARTY is a growing party, splitting from the wealthy right. They have the empowerment to solve this out-of-control-problem. Visit a local TEA PARTY website no matter what religion, party affiliation, as long as you entered the United States legally.Find out what illegal immigration is costing you. Did you know that you, the taxpayer supports the education for illegal alien children and free health care for the whole family. Do you know that they get priority over US Citizens for low income housing, if they have four children? All these answers and more can be located at NumbersUSA.

Once again, Coloradans are denied the convenience and price-savings of buying beer and wine in a way that is most convenient and from retailers best set up to provide that service.

For all the issues that rile Coloradans, I would think that this one would be on their radar – if only for the sleaze factor. Liquors stores – good ones, that is – co-exist nicely with higher alcohol selling grocery and convenience stores. We deserve better than this treatment by people like Lois Tochtrop.

Put the issue on the ballot. Coloradoans have not decided, lobbyists and legislators have decided! Put beer and wine on one ballot measure, and liquor on another. Let the consumers decide. I guarantee that the first measure would pass almost unanimously. I’m tired of the monopoly that liqour stores have over my choices as a consumer. The liqour issue would likely pass as well, for all of the trasnplanted Coloradoans who moved here from somewhere that this already exists. Again, PUT IT ON THE BALLOT, stop asking elected officials to choose for us!

Put the issue on the ballot. Coloradoans have not decided, lobbyists and legislators have decided! Put beer and wine on one ballot measure, and liquor on another. Let the consumers decide. I guarantee that the first measure would pass almost unanimously. I’m tired of the monopoly that liqour stores have over my choices as a consumer. The liqour issue would likely pass as well, for all of the trasnplanted Coloradoans who moved here from somewhere that this already exists. Again, PUT IT ON THE BALLOT, stop asking elected officials to choose for us!

Imagine a hypothetical example from, I don’t know, say, OUR HISTORY where local southern U.S. farmers were allowed to keep slaves, so that “local” southern business could prosper instead of allowing large, interstate northern businesses to come in and use voluntary freedmen for labor and push out the “little guy”. Gosh, we wouldn’t want to emancipate the slaves, would we? That would “hurt” small business.

How about my individual rights, people? Colorado has absolutely no moral right to prevent liquor sales at any venue. It’s my right to buy it, and it’s the store’s right to sell it.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.